This invention relates to an electromechanical contactor comprising a body which is fitted with fixing elements and a support and houses an electromagnet and a mobile contact carrier, the electromagnet comprising a coil, a fixed armature and a mobile armature capable of moving the contact carrier, the body comprising power terminals and command terminals.
It should be recalled that the power terminals of the body are connected through conductive power components to fixed power contacts, that can be separated from mobile contacts on the contact carrier and are situated in a main wiring plane. The command terminals are connected to the coil terminals of the electromagnet and are situated in a command wiring plane.
It is known that, depending on the desired configuration, the electromagnet can be arranged at the front or at the rear of the body. It is useful to make clear that the word xe2x80x9cfrontxe2x80x9d refers to the side of the body through which one has access with a tool to the power terminals, the main wiring plane therefore being at the front of the body, and that the term xe2x80x9crearxe2x80x9d refers to the side of the body fitted with fixing elements.
In certain contactors, currently used, where the coil of the electromagnet is housed at the rear of the body, the command wiring plane is also arranged, as a consequence and in a logical manner, at the rear of the arch-shaped casing which constitutes the essential part of the body and, at the same time, forms a fixing base for the contactor by screwing or clicking onto a support such as a profiled shape or a plate. An additional control device can be added on to the front of the body, the terminals of this additional unit defining a control wiring plane arranged at the front of the main wiring plane.
The command wiring is differentiated from the power wiring, but its layout cannot be modified without leading to a change in the arch-shaped casing. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that the addition of power terminals of different types to these contactors can only occur if different bodies are provided.
In other contactors with a rear coil, currently used, the command wiring plane is mixed with the main wiring plane. The partitioning required on the one hand between the various power terminals and on the other hand between the command terminals and the neighboring power terminals is ensured by partitions provided on the arch-shaped casing.
The result is that the power wiring and the command wiring are not sufficiently differentiated and that if one wishes to fit a power connection with elastic terminals rather than one with screw terminals, it is necessary to provide different contactor bodies.
The aim of this invention is to facilitate, in a contactor with a rear coil layout, the differentiation between the power wiring on the one hand, and the command wiring and if the need arises the control wiring on the other hand.
Another aim is to simplify the production of a range of rear coil contactors capable of being fitted with power connection terminals of different types.
According to the invention, the electromagnet is arranged at the rear of the body and the command wiring plane is arranged at the front of the power wiring plane. Preferably, the command terminals are arranged in a command terminal block situated at the front of the contactor body.
Linking conductors that connect the terminals of the coil, housed in a rear part of the body to the command terminals, housed in a front part of the body extend perpendicular to the command and power wiring planes. Advantageously, the linking conductors extend in spaces such as grooves made between an internal surface of the body of the contactor and an external surface of an arch-shaped casing which contains the mobile contact carrier and which is arranged inside the body.
When control contacts are provided, the body of the contactor can house fixed control contacts and have control terminals connected to these fixed contacts, the control terminals being situated in a wiring plane mixed with the command wiring plane. The control terminals are preferably housed with the command terminals in a common command/control casing situated at the front of the contactor body and joined to it.
The body of the contactor can include a base at the rear which permits fixing to a support and the housing of the fixed components of the electromagnet and a power terminal block at the front which houses the power terminals, the base and the power terminal block forming an external envelope that caps an arch-shaped casing which protects the mobile contact carrier.